"While still in high school at Ackerman, Mississippi, I purchased 200 acres of row crop and grazing land in Choctaw County not far from where my grandparents' farm was," explained Eric B. Chambers, "It had been a dream of mine all through my childhood - to buy some land and farm it."

With the purchase of those 200 acres, that dream came true and for six years Eric raised cattle, cut hay, and grew beans on his place. However, he was also working another job, so the time constraints and the economic reality of owning a small farm began to tarnish the dream as reality set in.

"In 1985 the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) had just begun and, after hearing about it, I began researching the possibility of placing my land into CRP. After considering all the pros and cons I could think of, I decided to take the land out of agricultural production and put it into trees," Eric said.

This was quite a venture for Eric. Some of the land was highly erodible and not well suited for row crops. About five acres of the land was very low and wet, and had to be bedded to get its maximum potential. However, Eric decided it was worth the risk and expense. The risk paid off, that area now has trees that are the same size as those planted on what was considered better sites.

"I planted 650-700 trees to the acre on a 7 X 9 spacing, using Weyerhaeuser stock for planting. The survival rate was approximately 93%. I did go back in and replant a majority of the mortality. The area was sprayed to keep down competition from weeds and undesirable species. This was probably a wise use of the money spent on this land. The trees had a great start without any competition for water and nutrients," Eric explained.

Eric said he checks on the land regularly, almost babysitting it like a brood of newly hatched chicks! He has been amazed at the growth that it puts on each year. At age 12, he decided to burn it because of the significant amount of needle catch and the amount of litter and fuel that had built up underneath. With the land having road frontage on two sides and vehicles coming in and about, he felt an uncontrolled fire was eminent. To prepare for the burn, he constructed fire lanes around and through the property. Then on a clear, cool night he successfully strip-fired the stand using flanking techniques in order to achieve his objective of fuel reduction.

At age 17 he was able to thin it. It cut 47 tons to the acre. Looking back at the practices that were performed on it, Eric said he was astonished as the return from both his monetary and "sweat" investments. Eric said, "CRP has been such a blessing for many farmers who were faced with similar problems. One could look at it this way, you may not be farming beans or cotton but you are farming trees, a renewable natural resource." After one more thin and the final cut, Eric will start the process over again by using some of the profits to regenerate and manage. He feels it is a small investment for the return you get.

"When it comes down to brass tacks, God owns the land and we just use it. Using land is a privilege, and with that privilege comes the responsibility to be a good steward of it, leaving it in better shape than when you got it. CRP stands for Conservation Reserve Program but it can also stand for "Care Reaps Products" which it does," concluded Eric.

Eric Chambers carefully managed his CRP tree planting acreage.